Major Russian attack kills at least 15

‘PAINFULLY AND DEMONSTRATIVELY’: Zelenskiy said air defense packages are a vital necessity, as Ukraine seeks more Patriot missiles to defend against ballistic missiles

Russian missiles and drones pounded Kyiv and a dozen other Ukrainian regions overnight into yesterday, killing at least 12 civilians, including three children, and wounding more than 40 in Moscow’s latest devastating barrage, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine had anticipated the attack, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warning the previous day that intelligence services had concluded that Russia was building up for a “massive” strike.

Although Ukraine knew about the looming attack, which coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 74th birthday, it could not fend it off completely.

Emergency services work to rescue residents from the site of an apartment building that was hit by a Russian missile strike in Pryluky, Ukraine, yesterday.

Photo: Reuters

The deaths and damage illustrated the difficulty Ukraine has in countering Russia’s ballistic missiles and the new jet-powered drones used in Moscow’s escalating bombardments.

Without ammunition for its US-made Patriot air defense systems, Ukraine cannot stop Russian ballistic weapons. It is racing to develop a new generation of interceptors fast enough to catch Moscow’s high-flying jet-propelled drones.

“Ukraine has once again been hit by Russian missiles throughout the night,” Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Ombudsmen Dmytro Lubinets said on Telegram.

“Another sleepless night, another act of terror, after which people still have to plan their working day despite everything,” he added.

A Russian strike destroyed an apartment block in Pryluky, in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, killing nine people, including three children, and wounding 34, Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Vyhivskyi said.

Deaths were also reported in three other Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, Zelenskiy said.

“The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively,” the Ukrainian leader said on social media.

Ukraine is looking worldwide for available Patriot missiles, which are in short supply due to the Iran war.

“Russian ballistic missiles remain the greatest challenge, and air defense packages for us right now are a vital necessity,” Zelenskiy said.

In Kremenchuk, in the Poltava region, two people were killed and seven injured, and a rescue operation was continuing, Poltava Oblast Governor Vitalii Diakivnych said.

“That is exactly what the enemy is counting on — For us to be afraid to fall asleep, to let our children out of our sight, to plan anything, so that everyone thinks: Next time it could be my address,” he said.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said the military carried out a massive strike overnight targeting industrial facilities involved in the production and storage of missiles and drones across Ukraine.

The ministry said that port and ship repair facilities in the southern Odesa region and ships carrying cargo for the Ukrainian military were also hit.

Ukraine has hit back at Russia by launching long-range drones and missiles on oil refineries and storage depots.

Zelenskiy said that Ukraine targeted two oil facilities and a training ground in the Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions of Russia.

Zelenskiy also indicated that Ukraine had struck in the Black Sea. He posted images of a fire said to show an oil tanker burning in the water near the Russian city of Sochi.

It was not possible to independently verify the images.

Some Russian online media late on Tuesday also posted the images. Unconfirmed media reports said it was carrying oil from Novorossiysk to India and was attacked by Ukrainian sea drones.